Arizona State University is developing a workforce ecosystem to boost the talent pipelines in advanced manufacturing, information technology, cybersecurity, and data analytics.

Earlier this year, the university received an $8M grant from the Department of Labor to fund its Workforce Training Accelerator Partnership for Next Generation Jobs or, more simply, AZNext. Over the next four years, the program hopes to help 2,000 participants achieve industry-recognized credentials and find jobs.

Fixing the Talent Gap

Raghu Santanam, Ph.D., lead investigator of AZNext and chair of the Department of Information Systems in the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU, says a talent gap in STEM-focused careers is not new. “There is huge growth in those areas. And when you have such growth and your educational pipeline is not reacting fast enough, doesn't have the capacity to react fast enough, you do end up seeing those talent gaps,” says Santanam.

Raghu Santanam, Ph.D., Arizona State University (Photo: W.P. Carey School of Business)

“The second way that these kinds of talent gaps emerge is that you have this incumbent workforce that's been busy doing what needs to be done. Then it's not suddenly prepared for something that drastically changes in the industry. So, both factors, in general, contribute to that kind of a talent shortage.”

Partnerships are Essential

Critical to AZNext’s development is the internal collaboration with other ASU programs and public-private partnerships.

“We collaborated with Arizona Technology Council, which is an organization with about 800 member companies that are all in the technology industry or are influenced by technology changes within their industries,” says Santanam.

“They are helping us put together these workforce advisory boards that help us engage with our employers very closely. Right now, in the first year, we're meeting with them on a quarterly basis. These are working sessions where we are closely listening to what their demands are, what the needs are, and what are some specific programs they would need,” explains Santanam.

The input will help inform what learning will be available to participants. Santanam says, “We are in the process of building curriculum that is not currently available, but that we predict will be really important for the employers.”

He adds, “We are also in the process within the university community, making sure we have the communications in place in terms of recruiting students or participants into the program.”

(Photo: Arizona State University)

Student Populations

The program will be open to anyone who is 17 years or older, a high school graduate, and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Training goals include new talent development, upskilling, and reskilling, according to Santanam. “I think your participant groups that you want to target expands to address each of those goals.”

“The unemployed and underemployed, of course, that's the societal imperative. They could be in that upskilling and reskilling bracket.”

“Some of them may also be ready to come back to university and completely train in a new area and we should keep that option open for them. So that's where they would still benefit from all of those three goals.”

The program will also focus on people with ties to the military. “We have the veterans, the military spouses, and the transitioning service members also in our target group. We have the Pat Tillman Foundation at ASU and we are working with them to address specifically how we help veterans transition into technology careers,” says Santanam. He adds, AZNext is in discussions with the Arizona Coalition for Military Families about possibly getting involved.

Santanam reminds that virtual learning is also an option and one of ASU’s strengths. “ASU is probably one of the largest research universities in the U.S. that has this large number of online degree programs. Also,